Advice needed when searching for used HVX900

I need to buy a HVX900 for an upcoming 6 month shoot. My concern is how I feel the HVX is approaching the end of it\'s heyday. I\'m sure it\'ll get work many years to come but I\'m reluctant to buy it new since I could save money for a better camera. I am hoping to move on with technology rather than working with older gear.

What sort of hours on the heads and drums should I be looking for? I can\'t seem to find info on how often they need to be replaced.

I\'m new to \'buying\' having always rented in the past. I havent had luck finding a \"blue book\" reference on how much these should cost uses given a condition.

HDX900's are being sold regularly. I sold mine a year ago, after owning it only 18 months, for $14K w/o lens. I wish I had bought an HPX2000 instead of a 900. I now have a 2700 and it's a bigger step above the 900 than I had expected. Why would your production company not want to have ready to edit files on drives with a better codec vs. realtime ingest of DVCPRO HD tape? Are you shooting in a remote location?

The best bang for the buck in 2/3" CCD cameras is a used HPX2000 w/AVC-Intra board, IMO.